Demon-Hunting Genius Mage

[Translator - Prøks]

[Proofreader - Prøks]

Chapter 60

[Don't be too disappointed. It won't be long now.]

With those words, she vanished.

"Gasp!"

As the pressure lifted, I abruptly sat up.

I had woken from the dream.

"Pant, pant..."

My body was already drenched in cold sweat.

I took deep breaths and looked around.

"...Yuhan, are you alright?"

"What in the world happened? Mr First Place, you were moaning so much..."

"Did you have a nightmare?"

My companions, who had been sound asleep, were gathered around me, staring.

Their eyes urged me to explain.

"Um... well..."

I began to recount what had happened in the dream.

***

"What? You were almost subjugated?"

I nodded at Kayla's surprised question.

"Oh, this time it was really dangerous."

I didn't let it show in the dream, but honestly, it was truly dangerous.

I almost fell for her offer to grant my wish.

The promise to send me back home sounded incredibly tempting.

Of course, if I had fallen for it...

'I would have ended up like Dercion.'

A madman chasing his own desires, unaware that he was heading towards death.

I would have met the same fate.

'What good is going home as a corpse? I have to go back alive.'

Well, in any case,

It was a relief that I overcame it.

"So, what did that bitch say?"

"She was a bit vague, but it seems she said she would come find me again on the day of the Blood Moon."

"The Blood Moon? Is she talking about the Great War?"

"That's the only thing I can think of right now."

"Sigh..."

Kayla let out a deep sigh, worried.

"It seems like the war is really going to happen. Honestly, I was skeptical."

It was understandable.

It was hard to grasp the reality of a major event before it actually happened.

But the dream, the prophecy, the rumors circulating around... everything pointed to the Great War.

Even if we didn't believe it completely, we had to at least prepare for it.

From that perspective... What about us? Were we sufficiently prepared?

Well, honestly, I wasn't sure.

Whether we were doing our best.

"So, that's why..."

With that thought in mind, I brought up what I had been thinking about since before I fell asleep.

"I think we need to postpone the Sector 7 matter for now."

"What do you mean?"

"I'm saying let's achieve our original goal."

"...Mr First Place, are you saying we should go outside now?"

I nodded at Thompson's question.

"Honestly, our current growth rate isn't bad, but it's not enough."

Indeed, according to the prophecy, there was less than a month left until the Great War.

Perhaps I would even have to face a Demon Legion Commander then.

Considering all that, our current growth rate was insufficient.

The demons loitering around here were mostly between low and intermediate-level.

"There will be stronger demons outside. It's their territory after all."

"Then... our growth will become faster."

"That's right. Although it will be somewhat dangerous."

I stopped there and waited for my companions' decision.

Since Sector 7 had already been breached, suggesting we move further out was understandably a matter requiring careful consideration.

If they felt it was too much of a risk, I was prepared to let them go without any hard feelings.

But then.

"If Mr First Place says so... of course we have to go too."

"Why are you talking about such a thing so seriously?"

"That's right. Wasn't that what we decided from the beginning?"

Contrary to my expectations, my companions accepted the proposal without much hesitation.

"..."

...What was this?

This feeling was like watching baby ducks following their mother.

I couldn't help but chuckle at the sight and said,

"Okay, then we'll depart tomorrow."

From tomorrow, our exploration beyond the border would begin in earnest.

***

That morning,

As soon as we opened our eyes, we headed to the underground passage leading to Sector 6.

"Huff... huff..."

"Damn... the smell has gotten worse."

There was only one reason why we came here directly.

"Ma'am, are you alright?"

Now that we were going beyond the border, we could no longer take care of the survivor lady.

"...I-I'm okay. You said it was just a little further, right?"

"Yes, it's just ahead."

So this was the method we chose.

To escort the lady and send her into Sector 6.

Since no other survivors seemed to be coming out anyway, it was better to do this in many ways.

Anyway, how long had we been walking?

Soon, a ladder leading to Sector 6 appeared, and we bid farewell to the survivor lady.

"It should be fine as long as you don't stand out too much. Right now, Sector 6 is also preoccupied with the war and all that, so no one will pay attention to others."

I said that and gathered the remaining gold coins from my companions and handed them to the lady.

"Use this money to get by for now once you get in."

"Thank you, young man..."

The survivor lady wiped away her tears, seemingly genuinely grateful.

Honestly, I had felt like she was a hindrance until now, but seeing her off like this gave me a sense of accomplishment.

"Ma'am, see you later! I'll come find you!"

"Oh... yes, Kayla. Thank you so much."

The lady, with a tearful voice, hugged Kayla once and slowly began to climb the ladder.

Only when we could no longer see her did we turn our backs.

Once again, we passed through the passage, enduring the terrible stench.

Meanwhile, Thompson, who seemed to be thinking about something, muttered,

"Huh... but I never thought it would be like this."

"What is it, mister?"

"No, I mean, even if the demons came and ravaged the place, how could there be only one survivor?"

"Uh, hmm..."

He was certainly right.

It couldn't be that all those people in Sector 7 were dead.

"What really happened to everyone?"

"Surely they must be hiding somewhere, right?"

"That would be fortunate, but..."

It was something we couldn't figure out even if we put our heads together.

In the end, we put the matter aside and picked up our pace.

Thud, thud!

Since we had cleared out the demons in the area on our way here, the return journey was easy.

A quiet path with no demons or people.

After a while,

We stopped in front of a line deeply drawn on the ground.

"We've arrived."

From this point on, we were officially beyond the border.

"For now, there are no demons in sight."

"Probably if we go a little further, we'll start seeing them one by one."

"But what is this line?"

Thompson asked, tapping the line on the ground with his foot, and Kayla answered,

"That's the remnants of the outer wall."

"Outer wall?"

"Yes, I've never seen it myself, but I heard that Sector 7 used to be a safe place like the other districts."

"Ah... I see. What happened to it?"

Kayla shook her head, saying she didn't know that much.

Indeed, even I, who played the game set 100 years in the past, didn't know about this.

'There was no wall back then either.'

It was natural for Kayla not to know.

While I was thinking that,

"...Shh."

Barundel stopped abruptly and signaled to us.

It was an action he only took when he encountered a demon.

We immediately assumed a battle stance and looked in the direction Barundel was looking.

There,

Koooong... Koooong...

A monster with the form of a half-man, half-bull, holding a large double-edged axe, was wandering around, looking around.

"...It's a Minotaur."

It was a high-ranking demon, a [Minotaur].

"Kuhhu, this is on a different scale..."

Just from its appearance, its force was incomparable to the demons we encountered in Sector 7.

Thud, thud...

We moved stealthily, our eyes fixed on the monster, holding our breaths.

From this point on, it was a life-or-death struggle.

***

The high-ranking demon [Minotaur].

It had two main characteristics.

One was its tremendous monstrous strength.

Kuoooooooo!

Kwaaaaaaaang!

Thompson, with rocks wrapped around his arms, barely managed to withstand the Minotaur's headbutt, being pushed back several meters.

"Kuhk, what power...!"

Groaning in pain from the considerable impact, he shouted at the top of his lungs,

"Now!"

Our final weapon, waiting for this very moment.

Barundel instantly charged behind the Minotaur.

Vwoong.

The axe swung by his short arms aimed for the Minotaur with terrifying speed.

However.

Uoooooo!

The Minotaur, reacting in time, countered Barundel's attack with its own axe.

Kagagagagang!

A deafening roar and a tremendous amount of sparks.

This was the monster's second characteristic.

It used weapons with its monstrous strength.

This also meant that it had at least the intelligence of a Goblin Demon or higher.

"...Oh no!"

Instinctively sensing danger, Barundel withdrew his axe and created distance.

But had he already received too much of a shock?

Crack! Crack! Crack!

Cracks began to appear on Barundel's axe, and eventually, it shattered.

"Damn it...! This is as far as I go!"

"I'll take over!"

I immediately switched places with Barundel and jumped into the battlefield.

It had already been 30 minutes since we started this fierce battle.

The monster's stamina should be running low.

'I have to finish it.'

Thompson and Barundel weren't a good match against the Minotaur in the first place.

Their greatest strength was their powerful single blows, but those weren't enough to overcome the Minotaur's monstrous strength.

On the other hand, me?

'Not bad.'

I had what Thompson and Barundel lacked.

A nimble body.

I might lose to them in explosive speed, but in terms of overall speed, I had a significant advantage.

I had to wear down the Minotaur bit by bit with this speed.

Crackle!

I instantly covered my entire body with electricity and dashed towards the Minotaur.

The monster reacted almost simultaneously and swung its double-edged axe with force, but—

Crackle!

I momentarily increased my speed even further, escaping the monster's axe's trajectory.

Vwoooosh!

An intimidating gust of wind roared from behind.

'...If I get hit even once, it's over.'

Swallowing my dry saliva, I pushed my speed further and further.

Crack! Crackle!

Just as I reached close range,

Guooo!

The monster swung its axe once more.

This time, with an accurate trajectory that I couldn't avoid even with increased speed.

Of course, I had no intention of dodging.

We still had one more comrade.

"Not a chance—!"

Along with a battle cry, I felt an intense heat from behind.

It was the fireball that Kayla, who had gathered all her magic power, had launched.

Kwaaaang!

A fireball dozens of times larger than any I had seen before struck the Minotaur's axe.

The impact momentarily caused the monster to lose its balance.

Now was the perfect timing.

"Now."

Slice—!

The sword imbued with holy power and the [Essence of Light].

It slashed across the Minotaur's calf.

Kuoooooo...!

The monster lifted its leg in pain.

It was a minor injury considering the power I put into the attack, but it didn't matter.

I had no intention of defeating it with a single blow anyway.

'Little by little, surely.'

As soon as my airborne body touched the ground, I leaped again.

Slice—!

I slashed the monster's leg once more.

And I repeated this process countless times.

Slice! Slice! Slice...!

Ankle, calf, knee, thigh...

Even if my legs were to give out, I wouldn't stop, relentlessly cutting at the monster's legs.

After a while,

Kooong—!

Unable to support its weight any longer, the monster knelt, and I, who had been waiting for this moment, jumped high.

Finally, our eyes met.

The monster looked at me with vacant eyes, as if accepting its death.

"Die."

I swung my sword mercilessly at the monster.

Fwoooosh!

Blood gushed from its neck like a waterfall, and the monster collapsed.

Kooong!

"..."

A brief silence fell.

And then, a great cheer erupted.

"Woohoo!"

For the first time since coming to this world,

We had hunted a high-ranking demon.

[Translator - Prøks]

[Proofreader - Prøks]